


Reading Lia Jackson - The Lightning Thief

by ElAreEss



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Book 1: The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson), F/M, Female Percy Jackson, Protective Poseidon (Percy Jackson)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:33:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27101269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElAreEss/pseuds/ElAreEss
Summary: A better future. That’s what Lia Jackson and every demigod, both greek and roman, longs for. They've been through so much suffering already, and the battle with Kronos hasn't even arrived yet. The Fates decide to give the gods a chance to realize their mistakes and to provide a greater destiny to their offspring. That’s how the demigods find themselves in a timeline in which they haven't been born.(Only Percy’s gender is altered and I changed a bit of the story, but not the main plot)
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Percy Jackson/Ethan Nakamura
Comments: 35
Kudos: 160





	1. A Leap of Faith

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the plot of Percy Jackson or the characters, all the credit for those goes to Rick Riordan.  
> The only warnings I have for you guys are:  
> 1\. There is cursing, but nothing out of the extraordinary  
> 2\. Spoilers, which I guess it's kind of obvious, but still

Truth be told, the gods were tired of hearing Zeus and Poseidon arguing about the same things every single winter solstice. “Air disasters are way more spectacular than sea ones”, “Sea pollution is more harmful than air pollution”, and all that jazz. And Ares wasn’t helping at all, innocently adding comments about the amount of documentaries regarding accidents that happened in his father's domain to keep the fire of the fight going.

Hades would have interviewed when the topic of “Mother Raea’s favorite son” came up to say that actually, he was Mother Rea’s favorite son, if it wasn't for Persephone sitting beside him keeping him company and distracting him from what was going on around the throne room. 

The queen of the ocean was talking to her son about the work of the cyclops in the forges, glancing once in a while at her husband with an amused smirk. Their marriage had really improved since the Pact of the Big Three had been made. Let’s just say that Amphitrite wasn't exactly thrilled when there were living little walking reminders of Poseidon’s cheating going around on earth. But she never released her anger on the demigods, unlike a certain queen of the gods. 

The rest of the gods weren’t doing anything out of the ordinary. 

Apollo and Hermes were discussing something in hushed voices with Hephaestus, probably trying to convince him to help them build something for a prank that would make one of the gods/goddess really mad. 

Artemis was arguing with Aphodite because the latter had, once again, made one of moon goddess’s hunters fall in love. 

Athena and Demeter were discussing how to improve the cultivation of cereal crops, much to the dislike of the first.

And finally, Dyonissus was bugging the hell out of Hera to try to convince her to talk to Zeus in order to have his wine restrictions removed.

It has in the midst of all this chaos that eight books fell out of nowhere with a noise loud enough to get the attention of everyone in the room. With said books came a note that fell on Hestia’s lap, who, until that moment, had been calmly controlling the fire in the middle of the room. With a confused look in her face, that mirrored every single one of the other godly inteties, she read the note out loud.

_“Dear gods and goddess,_

_It is highly unusual for us Fates to make any moves with the intention of changing what is destined to happen in the future. Hence, know that what is about to happen is not to be taken lightly._

_Two wars slowly rise in the horizon and if things take its natural course many innocent lives are going to be lost, many of which are of your own children. An immense amount of suffering can be avoided if you realise the mistakes you have been making throughout the centuries and fix them before it's too late._

_Three different groups of demigods, who have not been born in your time yet, are going to be gathered. They are from distinct timelines and places. Two groups are from Camp Half Blood and the other is from Camp Jupiter. You are to read about their past, present and future._

_We are perfectly aware of the efforts that take place to keep both camps apart, but their union is of huge importance._

_When they arrive just ask them to state their names, you will find out their godly parentage along with their story throughout the development of the books._

_Last but not least, as soon as you have finished reading this note all of you will be turned into mortals so you don’t hurt each other or the heroes you are about to meet._

_We have faith in all of you to do the right thing._

_Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos”_

Just like the Fates had written down, as soon as Hestia was done reading a white light temporarily blinded all the gods. It went away just as fast as it came, and at the heart of the room, where a moment before Hestia’s fire burned, Chiron stood along with nineteen demigods, a satyr and a mortal. 


	2. A nice meeting between parents and their children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy it :)  
> (And If you guys can’t imagine Lia’s eyes with the description, just search “coral eyes” on google. It’s the first image that appears and I just think it's so freaking pretty.)

Never before had the throne room been so silent. 

Everybody was stunned, mainly the newcomers, who had no idea what was going on. They’d all been going about their days.

Chiron and the cabin leaders, minus Pollux that hasn’t been functioning properly since Castor’s death, were discussing a plan to take down the Princess Andromeda.

Leo, Piper and Jason were about to continue following the storm spits after they had rested.

Reyna, Frank and Hazel had been eating at the Mess Hall. It was the day the daughter of Pluto received her SPQR tattoo that marked her as a member of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata.

Thalia was camping in the woods with the rest of Huntress.

Grover, Nico and Rachel were the only ones alone before the white flash of light. The satyr had been in the woods at Camp Half Blood thinking about the mission Pan had given him; Hades's son was at the Underworld, thinking about the deal he had made with his father; and the mortal had been making one of her paintings in her bedroom.

Then the infamous white flash of light appeared, and suddenly, they were all in Olympus.

The silence of the group of teenagers didn't last long. Soon they were all talking amongst themselves, asking the same question “What the fuck?!”

The gods, now in human size, quietly observed the demigods, trying to figure out if any of them were one of their kids. 

Chiron turned to Hestia with a questioning look and she simply handed him the note. The centaurs' eyes got bigger and bigger the more he read its content. 

Do you want to know what else didn't last long? Zeus' patience. Soon, he was yelling for everyone to be quiet. Once the group had calmed down, he explained the motive of the gathering.

“You were all brought here by none other than the Fates themselves. We are supposed to read about your past and your future. Apparently, the purpose of all this is to change what is to come so your race doesn't suffer as much.” Zeus said annoyed. I guess he wasn't happy with the implication that them, the almighty gods, were on the wrong and had to change. 

“So step forward, state your name and take a seat” he finished, pointing towards the sofas that had appeared with the group and were positioned at the end of the row of thrones, which had been turned into armchairs for the gods conformt. 

They all looked at each other, uncertain and nervous as heck to be in the presence of their godly parents, or in Gover's, Rachel's' and the Romans’ case, to be in the presence of any god at all.

The first one to step forward was a wavy jet black haired girl.

“Lia Jackson,” she said. As she went to take her seat she sent a reassuring smile to her fellow campers. 

That girl looked so much like Poseidon it was creepy, but surely he wouldn't break the Pact, right? No, no, no way. It was a known fact that all the sea god’s kids had sea green eyes and in all the eons he had lived, he never had a daughter. 

She was probably just an Aphodite’s kid given her colorful eyes, the gods told themselves. They were a rare mixture of dark blue, light green and whith tiny splashes of orange and yellow around her pupil. 

Lia taking the first step made the rest of them feel encouraged, and suddenly they didn't feel as uneasy.

“Ethan Nakamura,” said a boy with brown eyes. Well, I guess I should say brown _eye_ given the black eyepatch he was wearing over his left one. Honestly, the gods had no idea who could be his godly parent. He didn’t have any marking characteristics of any of the Oplynpians. So probably a minor god’s child, right?

“Annabeth Chase,” said a tanned girl. ‘Athena’, all the gods immediately thought, there was no mistaking that blond hair along with those grey eyes. 

“Thalia Grace,” said a black haired girl with a silver circlet on her head. Artemis couldn't help but smile, knowing that was one of her future hunteress, but the smile soon faded as she thought about Zoey and what would happen to her, since this girl apparently was her future lieutenant. 

And Jason, oh poor Jason, went paler than Hades himself. It was only when Thalia sat down besides Annabeth and started to study the group in front of her that she saw her little brother. Her eyes widened and if it wasn’t for her state of pure shock she’d have tracked him down in a hug. 

They stared at each other and had a silent conversation. As soon as they had a break they needed to talk. 

“Nico Di Angelo.” Hades eyes widened. What was he doing outside Lotus Casino? Where was Bianca? Persephone’s face closed and she raised her eyebrows towards Hades inquisitively. 

“Will Solace.” Radiant smile, blond hair and tanned skin. Apollo smiled, this boy was definitely his son.

“Charles Beckendorf.” Hephaestus nodded approvingly, given the boy's fisic that was probably one of his kids.

“Silena Beauregard.” The girl was gorgeous, the kind that everybody stares at. ‘Aphrodite,’ the gods thought in sync.

“Katie Gardner.” This one had warm brown eyes, just like Demerter’s. The goddess smiled at what was very likely her daughter. 

“Travis” started a brown haired boy

“and Connor” continued another one who was an exact copy of Travis

“Stoll.” They finished together. The gods could recognize that troublemaker smile, also referred as shit eating grin from time to time, from miles. Definitely Hermes’s offspring.

“Chris Rodriguez.” This one had features very similar to the Stoll brothers. Hermes smiled at his kids, but Chris didn’t meet his gaze.

“Clarisse La Rue.” Ares recognized the vicious sneer on the girl’s face, it was the same one he saw in the mirror every day. He shrugged and nodded.

“Groove Underwood.” Well, this one could be easily identified as a styr giving his goat legs and hooves.

“Rachel Dare, I’m just a mortal.” The gods all raised their eyebrows. What was a mortal doing with a bunch of demigods? And above all, what was she doing in Olympus?

“Jason…uh..I-I don’t remember my last name,” he said, glancing slightly at Thalia.

“Piper McLean” Just like Silena, she was gorgeous. Aparrentaly Hermes is not the only one with more than one kid here, the gods though. Aphrodite happily clapped her hands together. 

“Leo Valdez.” His elfish features were similar to Hermes’ kids, but the way he was building a yet to be identified object with only rubber bands, screws and bolts led the gods to think that he was actually Hephaestus’ son.

The Romans, now they were a true mystery to most of the gods. 

“Reyna Ramírez Arellano.” The only things the goods could think of was that she was definitely a leader by her regal purple toga decorated with gold medals over Imperial Gold armor and the way she posed herself. 

“Hazel Levesque” Hades flickered, and for a moment his robe turned into a black suit. He was speechless, she was supposed to be dead.

“Frank Zang,” said a babyish faced boy, eyeing Apollo, who he dearly hoped was his father.

“Dear Zeus, finally.” exclaimed an exasperated Dyonisus, glad the introductions were over. 

“Let’s start reading, shall we?” suggested Hestia, heading towards an armchair that had appeared besides Persephone's.

Everybody nodded. There was a bit of shuffling around, so people would be seated with who they were closest with. 

In one sofa was Grover, Ethan, Lia and Rachel. 

In another one was Annabeth, Thalia, Nico and Will. 

In a smaller couch was Beckendorf and Silena. 

Filling a hole sofa was Clarisse, Chris, Travis, Connor and Katie. 

Then Piper, Jason and Leo. 

And finally, Reyna, Hazel and Frank. 

“I’ll start” said Chiron, picking up a book with a dark blue cover and the number 1 embroded in the front with what looked like celestial bronze. He checked and none of the books had a title. Only plain covers and numerals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now things are going to get interesting  
> Comment what you think


	3. Maniac algebra teachers attempts murder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own the plot of Percy Jackson or the characters, all the credit for those goes to Rick Riordan.  
> Hope you enjoy it.

Lia frowned. Were they going to read specifically about her?

“What kind of teacher harms their students?” asked Athena with an incredulous face.

“A very evil one,” shrugged Lia.

**Look, being a half blood sucks.**

**It’s dangerous, scary and it usually gets you killed in incredibly painful ways.**

All demigods noded. 

“Yeah, that about sums it up,” agreed Will.

**Having said that, hey what’s up?**

**My name is Lia Jackson and I’m a fourteen year old who can’t catch a break.**

Everybody turned to her. Most of the greek demigods were excited, they were going to read Lia freaking Jackson’s thoughts, how cool was that?

Lia cringed. Great. Simply great. She had enough gods that didn’t like her based on the things she said. What would happen now that they were going to know what she thought, with no filter whatsoever?

Grover and Ethan looked at her worriedly. They knew she didn’t like being the center of attention. 

Piper, Leo and Jason also looked at her worriedly, but for a different reason. Where they came from she was missing. Piper clearly remembered Ethan’s distraught face when he was talking about Lia.

**You see, every single year I get expelled from a new school and it’s usually because of something that happend in a stupid field trip.**

Athena looked at Lia judgmentally.

**It's never my fault.**

“Never your fault?” asked an incredulous Thalia. 

“Shut it, pine face,” was the answer she got 

**Well, I never do it on purpose. I like to think that I simply attack bad things.**

“Ain’t that the truth” said Ethan with a slight chuckle. Lia elbowed him playfully.

**For example, at my eighth-grade school, we were on an annual canoe trip at the end of the year, and one of the students behind me was aggressively yelling for me to 'paddle slower! I explained that I hadn't wacked him with the paddle and pushed him into the river, but of course I got expelled anyway.**

The demigods burst out laughing.

The gods simply stared at Poseidon questionably. The wars the Fates had mentioned, could one of them be about the Great Prophecy coming true? Was this girl Poseindon’s daughter? 

Amphitrite semblante closed immediately. If before she suspected Lia was one of her husband's illegitimate offspring, now she was 95% sure of it.

Triton wasn’t disappointed at the likely prospect that his dad would cheat on his mom, perhaps sad that Amphitrite would suffer. He'd always known that this day would come, there was no such thing as avoiding a prophecy forever. He studied Lia with interest. A sister. Maybe she wouldn’t be as insufferable as the other heroes his father had made through the centuries.

**Or at my seventh-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I swear I wasn’t aiming for the school bus, but the director didn’t give a crap.**

At this, Hermes and Apollo couldn't contain their laughter anymore and joined their kids. 

**And before that, in sixth-grade, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, our class took an unplanned swim because I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk. And the time before that … Well, you get the idea.**

Even more laughter erupted in the room.

“No, please keep going,” asked Travis, Connor, Hermer, Will, Apollo and Leo.

**That’s why today I was determined to not get in trouble.**

“Yeah, right,” said Nico sarcastically.

“Excuse me?” inquired Lia.

“You know he is right, Lia,” said Chris.

“It’s like you ask to get in trouble, Jackson,'' agreed Clarisse.

“But I-,” a knowing look from Ethan stopped her mid sentence, “yeah, I guess you guys are right”

**We were on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. Usually I wouldn’t be interested,**

Annabeth looked at Lia incredulously. 

**but Mr. Brunner, our latin teacher, was leading this trip.**

**So I had hopes it wasn’t going to be torture like the rest of Yancy field trips.**

Chiron smiled at that.

**Mr Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn’t think he’d be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armour and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn’t put me to sleep.**

“Dear gods, you slept in classes?” said Annabeth, now wondering how she was friends with Lia at all.

“It’s not like I did it on purpose.” defended Lia “Besides, most teachers had given up on me, so they didn’t even try to make the class interesting for someone with ADHD”

**Studying at Yancy Academy, a boarding private school for troubled kids, wasn't great, but it wasn’t as bad as the prior schools I had studied at. I had Mr. Brunner and a friend, Grover.**

Grover smiled at Lia.

**Grover and I became friends when I defended him from Nancy Bobofit, a freckled red-headed kleptomaniac girl, who was picking on him because he walked funny. Yeah no doy he walked funny, dumbass, he was crippled.**

Laughter surged around the room.

“No wonder Ethan used to call you Ms Congeniality.” Katie said sarcastically 

**Unfortunately, Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny and cried when he got frustrated. He must’ve been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin.**

“Thanks, Lia.” He said sarcastically, his smile now gone.

“No need to thank me, G-man.” She patted him on the shoulder. 

**He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked like every step hurt him, but don’t let that fool you. You should’ve seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

“How to blow you cover 101,” joked Thalia.

“Hey, you have no idea how good that enchilada was,” blushed Grover.

**All the way into the city, I put up with cheeto head hitting Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

“Gross,” said Silena and Katie.

**She knew I couldn’t do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death-by-in school-suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

“Mildly entertaining?” Questioned Athena.

“What a buzzkill.” Apollo huffed. 

**“I’m going to rip her head off,” I mumbled.**

“Do it,” said Clarisse and Ares at the same time 

**Grover tried to calm me down. “It’s okay. I like peanut butter.” He dodged another piece of Nancy’s lunch.**

“Jackass.” 

“Bitch.”

And other rude words were spoken.

**“Nancy, sweety. Did your daddy not pay you enough attention while you grew up? Is that why you have ASDC?” I asked, turning to look at her with fake concern.**

“ASDC?” everybody asked

**“ASDC?” she sneered.**

**“Yeah, Attention Seeker Cunt Disorder.”**

Laughter erupted in the room.

“Language.” Chiron scolded, but if you took a closer look you could see the amusement dancing in his eyes.

**Besides me I could hear Gover snorting.**

“I really wasn’t expecting it.”

**She went bright red, but recovered rather quickly. “That’s rich coming from a bastard bug eyed freak like you.”**

“What?!” How dared she say that to Lia. I mean, Lia hadn’t been exactly nice to her a moment before, but that girl had it coming acting that way.

“Bug eyed?” questioned Nico.

“Yeah, one time she overheard me telling Grover that some girls I had studied with years before called me ‘bug eyes’ and from that moment on she wouldn't stop calling me that” answered Lia. 

Everyone who heard her frowed.

“It’s alright, you guys. I don’t mind.” Lia said nonchalantly. 

Ethan was down right fuming. So this Nancy was a part of the reason Lia used to dislike her eyes so much. 

He controlled himself and whispered so only Lia could hear him “You know I love your eyes, right?”

She blushed hard, “Yeah, I know,” she answered with a soft smile.

Aphrodite, who had seen the exchange between the two, giggled exitetly. It has been a long time since she’s seen two people with such love potential.

**“That’s it.” I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

**“You’re already on probation,’ he reminded me. ‘You know who’ll get blamed if anything happens.” Looking back on it, I wish I’d decked Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would’ve been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

Poseidon looked at Lia, who was very likely his daughter, in concern.

**Mr Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.**

**It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

“More,” said Annabeth and Athena at the same time

**He gathered us around a four-metre-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a** **_stele_ ** **, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs Dodds, would give me the evil eye.**

“Wait...THE Mrs Dodds?” asked Ethan slightly exasperated. He knew Lia had ecourted her before the buss on their first quest, but he had never heard the details.

Lia nodded grimly in response.

**Mrs Dodds was this little maths teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last maths teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

**From her first day, Mrs Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, “Now, honey,” real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.**

**One time, after she’d made me erase answers out of old maths workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn’t think Mrs Dodds was human. He looked at me real serious and said, “You’re absolutely right.”**

The gods looked at Hades. Did he send one of them after the girl?

**Mr Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.**

**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the** **_stele_ ** **, and I turned around and said, “Will you** **_shut up_ ** **?”**

**It came out louder than I meant it to.**

“Course it did,” Nico chuckled 

**The whole group laughed. Mr Brunner stopped his story.**

**“Ms Jackson,” he said, “did you have a comment?”**

**My face was totally red. I said, “No, sir.”**

**Mr Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the** **_stele_ ** **.**

**“Perhaps you’ll tell us what this picture represents?”**

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. “That’s Kronos eating his kids, right?”**

Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon cringed. They did not appreciate the memory. 

**“Yes,” Mr Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. ‘And he did this because . . .”**

**“Well . . .” I racked my brain to remember. ‘Kronos was the king god, and –”**

“GOD?” The gods and Annabeth exclaimed.

**“God? ” Mr Brunner asked.**

**“Titan,” I corrected myself. “And . . . he didn’t trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters –”**

“Yeah, that’s better,” said Athena 

**“Eeew!” said one of the girls behind me.**

**“– and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans,” I continued, “and the gods won.”**

**Some snickers from the group and few “Nerd”s**

“Nerd? That’s basic knowledge,” said Annabeth, baffled.

“For us, but not for them,” reasoned Silena.

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, “Like we’re going to use this in real life. Like it’s going to say on our job applications, ‘Please explain why Kronos ate his kids’.”**

**“And why, Ms Jackson,” Brunner said, “to paraphrase Miss Bobofit’s excellent question, does this matter in real life?”**

“Busted,” laughed Leo

**“Busted,” Grover muttered.**

There were a few chuckles because of the coincidence. 

**“Shut up,” Bobofit hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

**At least Nancy got in trouble, too. Mr Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

“Yeah,” said Travis sadly

“That hearing can be such a killjoy,” complemented Connor 

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. “I guess they show us how people used to think, how they explained the unexplainable”**

Annabeth gave her a thumbs up, “Not bad.”

“I keep telling you all that I know stuff” Lia said, faking smugness.

**“I see.” Mr Brunner looked somewhat disappointed. “Well, half credit, Ms Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan’s stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it’s time for lunch. Mrs Dodds, would you lead us back outside?”**

“Happy note?” questioned Hazel.

“That Kronos was imprisoned in Tartarus,” cleared Chiron.

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

Artemis rolled her eyes, “Boys  _ are _ doofuses.”

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr Brunner said, “Ms Jackson.”**

**I knew that was coming.**

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned towards Mr Brunner. “Sir?”**

**Mr Brunner had this look that wouldn’t let you go – intense brown eyes that could’ve been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

“Pretty much it,” agreed Beckendorf

**“You must learn the real answer to my question,” Mr Brunner told me.**

**“About the Titans?”**

**“About real life. And how your studies apply to it.”**

**“Oh.”**

“Great anwer,” Annabeth teased.

Lia stuck out her tongue in response.

**“What you learn from me,” he said, “is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Lia Jackson.”**

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.**

“I know why now,” said Lia looking at Chiron, “and I appreciate it.”

**I mean, sure, it was dope on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armour and shouted: ‘What ho! ’ and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped.**

“Dope indeed,” the demigods agreed.

**But Mr Brunner expected me to be better than everybody else, despite the fact I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life.**

**And I just couldn’t learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

“That’s no excuse, my children also have dyslexia and their grades aren’t nearly that bad.” Athena said.

“Well, my dyslexia is pretty severe, definitely worse than your kids.” Lia answered calmly. She really didn’t want gods hating her before she was even born.

Athena dropped the subject. For now, at least.

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr Brunner took one long sad look at the** **_stele_ ** **, like he’d been at this girl’s funeral.**

“I was.” Chiron confirmed sadly. 

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.**

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I’d ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We’d had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes.**

“What on earth are you two fighting about this time?” Hera asked Zeus and Poseidon.

They looked at each other and shrugged. 

**I wouldn’t have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.**

**Nobody else seemed to notice.**

“That's mortals for you,” said Dyonisus dismissively.

Rachel looked at him very offended. 

**Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady’s bag, and, of course, Mrs Dodds wasn’t seeing a thing.**

“Amatour.” Travis, Connor and Chris together. Hermes smiled proudly at his sons 

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn’t know we were from** **_that_ ** **school – the school for loser weirdos who couldn’t make it elsewhere.**

“Most of us feel like that at some point.” Annabeth reassured Lia. 

Lia smiled at her grey eyed friend, appreciating her thoughtfulness. 

Ethan looked at Lia surprised. He had no idea she used to think so little of herself.

**“Detention?” Grover asked.**

**“Nah,” I said. ‘Not from Brunner. I just wish he’d lay off me sometimes. I mean – I have ADHD. I don’t get why he expects so much of me.**

Chiron frowned. Perhaps he had been too hard on the girl without even realising.

**Grover didn’t say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, “Can I have your apple?”**

There was a lot of snickering around the room.

Grover blushed and added no comment. 

**I didn’t have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.**

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom’s apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn’t seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She’d hug me and be glad to see me, but she’d be sad that I hadn’t tried harder, even if this was my eighth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn’t be able to stand that disappointed look she’d give me.**

“Mama’s girl.” Clarisse teased.

“Yeah, I really am.” Lia said without a hint of shame. 

**Call me mama’s girl as much as you want,**

“Mama’s girl,” this time Clarisse mouthed the words and Lia’s response was an eye roll with a hint of a smile.

**I just didn’t want to let her down,** **_again._ **

Ethan put an arm around Lia and squeezed her shoulder. 

**Mr Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table.**

“Cool.” Leo and Beckendorf stated, with a look in their eyes that said they were visualizing the table and thinking of ways to improve it.

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Dipshit Nancy appeared in front of me with her ugly friends – I guess she’d gotten tired of stealing from the tourists – and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover’s lap.**

“Rude.” Silena said.

**“Oops.” She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

“And gross,” complemented Aphrodite.

**I tried to keep my cool. The school counsellor had told me a million times, ‘Count to ten, get control of your temper.’ But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

The gods stared at Poseidon nervously. 

**I don’t remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, ‘Lia pushed me!’**

**Mrs Dodds materialized next to us.**

**Some of the kids were whispering: ‘Did you see –’**

**‘– the water –’**

**‘– like it grabbed her –’**

“POSEIDON!”

And all hell broke loose.

“I can’t believe you cheated on me. AGAIN,” said a very hurt Amphitit.

“ _ I _ can’t believe  _ you  _ broke the Pact” Hades exclaimed furiously.

“How dare you!” bellowed Zeus

“Can’t wait to see how they are going to react when they find out about me and Jason,” whispered Thalia.

“Seriously Poseidon, SERIOUSLY?!!!!!”

“STOP,” yelled Hestia, “It hasn’t happened yet, and now is not the time to talk about this,” she said, giving a pointed look at all the teenages who were present in the room. 

“Alright, but as soon as this chapter ends we are having a meeting,” Zeus announced through gritted teeth.

Lia had sukken down as far as she could in her seat. She usually didn't feel intimidated in the presence of gods, but the way Anphitrite was glaring at her made her unbelievably uncomfortable. Rachel took her hand, Ethan, who still had his arm around Lia, hugged her closer and Annabeth took a pillow and sat between her legs. That along with the sympathetic looks all the other demigods, and Grover sent her gave a clear message, they were all there for her. 

**I didn’t know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

**As soon as Mrs Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I’d done something she’d been waiting for all semester. “Now, honey –”**

**“I know,” I grumbled. “A month erasing textbooks.”**

“No! Never guess your punishment,” exasperated Travis.

“Have we thought you nothing, Jackson??” asked Conor, trying to lighten up the mood.

It worked, Lia rolled her eyes and gave them a smile.

**That wasn’t the right thing to say.**

**“Come with me,” Mrs Dodds said.**

**“Wait!” Grover yelped. ‘It was me.** **_I_ ** **pushed her.’**

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn’t believe he was trying to cover my ass. Mrs Dodds scared Grover to death.**

“Thanks for giving it a shot, man.” Lia said sincerely to Grover.

Grover shrugged “It was my job.”

“Monster?” the demigods asked.

What Chriron read next was good enough of an anwer. 

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

Suddenly, everyone was tense.

**“I don’t think so, Mr Underwood,” she said.**

**“But –”**

**“You –** **_will_ ** **– stay – here.”**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

**“It’s okay, dude,” I told him. “Thanks for trying.”**

**“Honey,” Mrs Dodds barked at me.** **_“Now.”_ **

**Bobofit smirked. What a bitch.**

There were a few chuckles, despite the tension.

**I gave her my deluxe I’ll-kill-you-later stare. I then turned to face Mrs Dodds, but she wasn’t there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.**

**How’d she get there so fast?**

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I’ve missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. My therapist told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. But I wasn’t so sure.**

“Smart,” praised Poseidon, looking at Lia. Since it was confirmed she really was his kid he hadn’t stopped looking at her, his first and only daughter.

**I went after Mrs Dodds.**

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr Brunner, like he wanted Mr Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

“I was aware of what was going on,” stated Chiron in response to the glares he was receiving from Poseidon and Triton.

Anphitrite had stopped staring at Lia. It took her a while, but she managed to remember that it wasn't the girls fault she had been cheated on.

**I looked back up. Mrs Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

**Okay, I thought. She’s going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop. But apparently that wasn’t the plan. I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**

**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

**Mrs Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.**

Nobody said a word, anxious to know what was going to happen next. 

**Even without the noise, I would’ve been nervous. It’s weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it . . .**

“She probably did,” commented Nico.

**“You’ve been giving us problems, honey,” she said.**

**I did the safe thing. I said, “Yes, ma’am.”**

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. “Did you really think you would get away with it?”**

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. She’s a teacher, I thought nervously. It’s not like she’s going to hurt me, right?**

Not if she really was whom the gods thought she was.

**I said, “’ll – I’ll try harder, ma’am.”**

**Thunder shook the building.**

For a moment, they all stared at Zeus. 

**“We are not fools, Lia Jackson,” Mrs Dodds said. “It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain.”**

“Confess what?” asked Athena to no one in particular.

**I had no clue what she was on about. All I could think of was that the teachers must’ve found the illegal stash of candy I’d been selling out of my dorm room.**

Hermes nodded his head aprovaling.

**Or maybe they’d realized I got my essay on** **_Tom Sawyer_ ** **from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

Athena and Annabeth contented themselves with an eye roll, too nervous to interrupt the reading. 

**“Well?” she demanded.**

**“Ma’am, I don’t . . .”**

**“Your time is up,” she hissed. Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn’t human. She was a shrivelled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

**Then things got even stranger.**

“YOU SENT A FURY AFTER MY DAUGHTER??!” bellowed Poseidon, looking at Hades with burning eyes.

The demigods were even more tense than before. How had Lia survived a Fury with no training?

Chiron started to read louder in order to stop a fight he knew would start if Hades responded his brother. 

**Mr Brunner, who’d been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

**“What ho, Lia!” he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

**Mrs Dodds lunged at me.**

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn’t a pen any more. It was a sword – Mr Brunner’s bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.**

**Mrs Dodds spun towards me with a murderous look in her eyes. My knees were jelly.**

**My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

Ares shook his head in disapproval. 

**She snarled, “Die, honey!”**

**And she flew straight at me.**

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

“That came naturally to you?” asked Ares, slightly impressed.

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water.** **_Hisss!_ **

**Mrs Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulphur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

All the teenages were staring at Lia in amazement. 

“You defeated a Fury with no training?!” exclaimed the Romans

“Well, yeah.” Lia shrugged, not knowing what to say.

The greek demigods knew Lia was a great fighter, but this was near impossible. No wonder Leo, Piper and Jason couldn’t stop heating about her when they were at camp.

**I was alone.**

“Wait. What?” A lot of people asked

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

**Mr Brunner wasn’t there. Nobody was there but me.**

**What the hell was going on?**

**My hands were still trembling.**

“Wimp,” said Ares at the same time the demigods said “Understandable.” 

One glare from Poseidon had Ares ealing his mouth shut.

**My lunch must’ve been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

“Magic mushrooms?” chuckled Frank.

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

“Nope,” the demigods said.

**I went back outside.**

**It had started to rain.**

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, “I hope Mrs Kerr whipped your butt.”**

“Who?” they all asked 

**I said, “Who?”**

**“Our** **_teacher_ ** **. Duh!”**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs Kerr. I thought she was just pranking me so I didn’t bother answering her.**

**I asked Grover where Mrs Dodds was.**

**He said, “Who?”**

**But he paused first, and he wouldn’t look at me, so I thought he, like Bobofit, was messing with me.**

Travis and Connor shook their heads in mock disappointment.

“You need some lying lessons,” commented Hermes. 

**“Not funny, man,” I told him. “This is serious.”**

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

“Oh, daddy’s mad,” chipped in Apollo and if you looked a couch away from him you’d see Hermes stifling his laugh.

Artemis whacked her twin in the head and told him to shut up and Zeus, Zeus did what he did best, he glared at the sun god.

**I saw Mr Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he’d never moved.**

**I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. “Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr Jackson.”**

**I handed it over. I hadn’t even realized I was still holding it.**

**“Sir,” I said, “where’s Mrs Dodds?”**

**He stared at me blankly. “Who?”**

**“The other chaperone. Mrs Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher.”**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned.**

“Now Chiron here knows how to lie.” Heremes gave Chiron a thumbs up.

**“Percy, there is no Mrs Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling alright?”**

“About that, it was really not fun thinking I was going insane.” Lia confessed.

“Sorry, Lia. Chiron and I agreed that it was too soon for you to learn about everything,” apologised Grover.

“Time for a  _ break, _ ” announced Zeus, “all the gods will remain in the throne room. After the meeting is over we will read the next chapter. Oh, and you stay here too, Chiron.” 

He didn’t need to say it twice, soon the demigods, Rachel and Grover were out of the throne room. 

“Now let’s discuss Poseidon's recklessness, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think of this one :)


	4. Pretty socks for Sasquach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own the plot of Percy Jackson or the characters, all the credit for those goes to Rick Riordan.  
> Sorry it took so long to update!!  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Let me know what you think in the comments :)

“I was foreced into the stupid Pact and you have the audacity to break it?!!” Hades was as livid as Zeus.

“Of course he’d be the one to break it. Poseidon and his damn impulsivity.” Zeus spat.

“You’re one to talk, I wouldn’t be surprised if we learn you have a horde of kids in the future.” Poseidon retorqued 

“Hey! We are not talking about Zeus infidelity, we are talking about yours.” Hera pointed out

“The only ones I own anything to are my wife and my son.” he said 

“There's no excuse for it, you are a wonderful wife and it’s very unfair for me to do this to you. You both” he said now looking at his son too “know that I don’t breed half bloods with just anyone. It’s very weird to apologize for something I’m yet to do, but I feel the need to because I know this hurts you two. I’m sorry I cheated, but I’m not sorry Lia was born.”

“I know, Poseidon, I know.” Anphitrite said resigned

“She seems powerful, dad.” Triton commented.

“She’s dangerous, she managed to kill a Fury without any training. Can you imagine what she can do _with_ training?”

“What are you implying, Athena?” Poseidon said with a glare.

“That ,maybe, the safest thing to do is kill her.” Ares shrugged.

“Who’s to say she won’t betray us?” agreed Zeus.

“Have you lost your mind?! No one is touching her.” Now, Poseidon was livid.

“We should learn more about the girl before making any rash decisions. Chiron, what do you make of her?” reasoned Aphrodite, who had taken a special interest in the girl.

“She is without a single doubt, a hero. The reading of these books is going to prove it.” He said with confidence. 

“Besides, there’s no point trying to control a prophecy. The Big Three Pact didn’t work, Lia Jackson was born. This was bound to happen at some point, you three just postponed it.”

“You know we are in trouble when Apollo is the voice of reason” Heaphestus said with his eyebrows raised.

“For once I agree with Apollo,” said Artemis with certain reluctance. “Besides, I doubt the Fates would have brought her here if she was a traitor.”

“But he broke the Pact, there needs to be punishment.” Zeus said with conviction, trying to convince the council.

“Hades already sent one of his torturees after the girl,” reminded Demeter.

“Oh, believe me, I remember that.” A murderous look was sent to the underworld god 

“Even if the majority of the council agreed to enforce a punishment, it's not like we would be able to put into practice. We’ve been turned into mortals, remember?” said Hermes.

“What are you all suggesting? That we go back to read as if there is nothing wrong?” Athena questioned.

“Do we have another reasonable option?” said Hestia

Nobody answered, which was an answer in itself.

“Fine,” said Zeus through gritted teeth, “Tell them to come in.”

The area next to the throne room had been turned into a cafeteria, similar to the dining pavilion at Camp Half Blood, but with a roof. As soon as the doors behind them closed Thalia hugged the life out of Jason. 

“Uhhhh… What’s going on?” asked Leo and Annabeth.

“Dear Zeus, Jason. I thought you were dead.” Thalia said, ignoring the pair. “What happened? How are you alive? Where have you been all this time?”

“I- I don’t know, I lost my memory. I don’t remember anything.”

Reyna and Hazel’s face fell. When Jason went missing they had imagined all scenarios, memory loss was in fact one of them. But suspect and know for sure were different things. It hurt that he didn’t remember them, mainly Reyna, who had known Jason for years and who saw him as more than just a friend.

“How do you two know each other?” questioned Annabeth again.

“He’s my little brother.”

“BROTHER?” all half blood campers exclaimed. Zeus had two kids? Could he be the kid from the prophecy then? Jason seemed to be the same age as Lia, so that was possible. 

“Why are you wearing a Camp Half Blood shirt?” asked Ethan.

“We are from the future,” explained Piper.

“The Future?”

“So you know what’s going to happen?”

“Not in details,” answered Leo.

“Do we win the war?”

“Do you know if anyone in here is going to die?”

“How do we win?”

“Is there really a spy among us?”

There were so many people asking questions at the same time that Leo, Jason and Piper could barely make out what was being said.

“Shut up!” Piper commanded with her sharm speak. “We do know what happens, but I don’t think we should say anything.” Annabeth and Ethan did not miss how Piper’s eyes lingered at Lia for a moment too long. “It’s probably in the books. I think it’s better you all find out through them.” Leo and Jason wholeheartedly agreed. None of them wanted to be the one to drop the ‘nobody knows where Lia Jackson is’ bomb.

They reluctantly nodded. 

“So I’m gonna go ahead and assume you three are also not going to tell us where you’re from.” Rachel said looking at Reyna, Hazel and Frank.

“Yeah, I believe that’s for the best.” Reyna said in the defencive. She didn’t know these people and they were obviously not from Camp Jupiter. But apparently Jason trusted at least some of these people, so they couldn’t be that bad. Hazel and Frank kept looking at Nico from time to time. He was obviously not the son of Pluto they knew. Hazel thought it was extremely bizzare to see her brother before he even knew she existed. 

“Can’t believe we are reading your thoughts, Lia.” Grover changed the subject.

“Me neither.” She mumbled, running her hands through her hair. Ethan patted her shoulder as a form of comfort.. 

“Can’t wait to see how you are going to describe the rest of us,” said Connor with a teasing smile. 

“Yeah, and to see the details of all your quests,” agreed Will.

“Oh, to discover what really went down with the Minotaur” added Clarisse. 

“Ahh, and to see you slowly falling in looove,” said Silena, bringing her hands over her heart. She really knew how to turn people bright red.

Lia was saved from the need to retorque Silena’s comment by the sudden opening of the doors behind them. 

In front of them stood Hermes. “The discussion is over. Come on in, we are going to proceed with the reading.”

They all followed the gods instructions and went back to their places. Poseidon and Lia made eye contact and he smiled reassuringly at her. The meeting must have gone better than Lia expected, this time nobody had threatened to kill her, to her face at least.

“Who’s going to read now?” Inquired Chiron.

“I’ll read.” Triton said, surprising everyone, including himself. He was known for totally ignoring the existence of his half siblings, but he couldn’t help being curious about Lia. “Pretty socks for Sasquatch.” He read out loud.

“Ooookay….what?” asked Nico looking at Lia, who had stiffened all of the sudden. 

“Dear gods, I had totally forgotten about that.” Grover said, white as a paper towel.

“Yeah, me too.” So much stuff had happened over the years that those three old ladies were the last thing in Lia’s mind, not that the memory didn’t scare her anymore. Just the mention of that encounter gave her goosebumps. 

**I was used to the occasional freaky experience,**

“Tell me about it.” All demigods went through weird stuff at some point.

**but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle.**

Chiron sent an apologetic look to Lia. 

**For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up,**

“Nice try. They are going to think you‘re crazy thought,” Beckendorf said.

**but they would stare at me like I was insane.**

"Told you."

**I almost believed I had a psychotic episode or something and Mrs had, in fact, never existed.**

**Almost.**

“Grover?” questioned Thalia.

**But Grover couldn't fool me.**

“Grover.” She answered herself. 

Poseidon looked disapprovingly at the satyr. He needed to do better if he was going to keep Lia safe. 

**When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist.**

“Dude, you seri-” 

“I know, I know. I need lying lessons.” Grover cut off Travis. He was more ashemed than annoyed. 

**Let’s just say he sucked at lying.**

“You may suck at lying, but you have other abilities that compensate for it.” Ethan reassured Grover.

“Yeah, don’t beat yourself over it.” Lia agreed.

**Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum. I had no idea what and to be honest, I was a little scared to find out.**

“I think most people would be.” Will said to no one in particular.

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

“Demigod’s dreams are the worst.” Katie sympathized.

“Wimps.” Ares shook his head in disapproval. 

**The freak weather continued. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room.**

“Humm, interesting,” said Poseidon with a vicious look in his face.

**A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

“You really need to control yourself.” Hades said to Zeus, who limited his response to an eye roll

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time.**

“The weather influences her mood. Impressive.” Triton whispered to himself.

**My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.**

Athena and Annabeth had incredulous looks on their faces.

“Jezz, that bad?”

“Yes.” Groven answered for Lia.

**I got into more fights with Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

“As impulsive as you.” Anfitrite told Poseidon.

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old mumblecrust.**

“A what now?” Leo asked.

“I’m sure I will explain it in the book.”

 **The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy. I guess Mr. Nicoll didn’t like being called an old** **toothless beggar.**

Laughter erupted in the room.

“How did you even know that word?” Chris questioned mid laugh.

“Simple, I searched once for forgotten curse words. I needed a way to insult Smelly Gabe to his face without him-.....just without him realising.” Lia finished awkwardly. Crap. Only now did she realise they were probably going to read about that scumbag. 

“Smelly Gabe?” Nico had never heard about him.

“My ex stepfather” Lia cleared. 

**It’s not like it was a new event in my life and , above it all, I was homesick.**

“Cute.” Clarisse teased.

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

Now everyone was curious to learn more about this guy. They had never heard of him, except for Ethan and Groven. But all they knew was that Lia deeply disliked him.

Chiron, Poseidon and Triton frowned their eyebrows. Obnoxious and stupid poker parties? 

**And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover,**

He smiled at that.

**who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

“Thanks for the vote of confidence” Grove’s smile was now gone.

“You know what I meant.” Lia gave him a light push. 

**I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tourna-ment days and his faith that I could do well.**

Now was Chiron's time to smile.

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for.**

“How can yo- why am I even surprised?” Annabeth was resigned at this point.

**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

“Good.” Apollo was starting to like the girl.

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room.**

Athena’s and Annabeth’s eyes widened.

“But that’s such a good book.”

**Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces.**

“I do now.” Lia said with her eyebrows raised. 

**And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

**My roommate, Gemma Ramsey, gave me a dirty look. She wasn’t nearly as bad as Bobofit and her goons, but we didn’t have enough in common to be friends. As a matter of fact, Grover talked to her more than I did. I had seen them a few times whispering around corners. When I casually asked Grover what was going on between the two of them, he blushed and stamerred a “J-just talking…...she’s nice” and he changed subjects.**

“What _was_ going on between the two of you?” Lia had a malicious smile on her face.

“It’s not what you’re thinking. I couldn’t be with you the whole time, so I used the Mist to convince her to keep an eye on you and report to me.”

“What?! You mean she was spying on me all that time?”

Grover shrugged with a sheepish smile “I didn’t have a lot of options.”

**I then remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Lia Jackson.**

**Crap. I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.**

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers.**

“Nice to see you trying.”

**At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

“I’d never think that.” Chiron 

**I didn’t bother telling Gemma where I was going, she was focused on reading her Latin notes. So I just walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... worried about Lia, sir."**

**I froze.**

“You heard that conversation?” Chiron scolded her

Lia just nodded, a little embarrassed “You were talking about me. I couldn’t help it” 

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

“Impossible not to listen.” declared

**I inched closer.**

**"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too—"**

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing her," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the girl to mature more."**

**"But she may not have time. The summer solstice dead-line— "**

**"Will have to be resolved without her, Grover. Let her enjoy her ignorance while she still can."**

**"Sir, she fought her... ."**

**"Her imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince her of that."**

“Not wise. You’re underestimating her.”

**"Sir, she is clever, I’m not so sure the Mist will convince her.**

“That and you buddie”

**Besides, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Lia alive until next fall—"**

**Apparently, I wasn’t as clever as Grover thought. The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

“Dumbass.” Clarisse mumbled

Travis, Connor, Chris and Hermes shook their heads in disappointment.

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muf- fled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.**

“You managed to get away with that?”

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

**"Don't remind me."**

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.**

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.**

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

**Gemma was lying on her bed, still studying.**

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You look awful."**

“Lovely comment.” Rachel said sarcastically. 

**I didn't answer.**

**She frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

**"Just... tired."**

**I turned so she couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

**"Lia," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."**

“Uh, that was brutal.” Apollo said.

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.**

Grunts were made all around the room.

“She never quites?” asked Silena, astonished.

“Just snap her neck already.” Clarisse didn’t have half the patience Lia had, she would have beaten the girl back to a pulp if it was up to her.

“She really is a bitch.” Piper had met a lot of girls like Nancy, who teased people, her in particular, for no good reason whatsoever.

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

They all cringed. 

“I’m so sorry, Lia. I should’ve phrased that better and not in front of the whole class.”

“It’s okay. I know you didn't mean it as an insult.” It still hurt though, but Lia thought it was better not to add that last part.

**My eyes stung.**

They looked at her in sympathy.

Lia was embarrassed. She didn’t need people thinking she was a cry baby. Ethan noticed she had started to play with her bracelet, something she mindlessly did when she was thinking.

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

Ethan started to play with the part of Lia’s hair that was behind the couch. When these weird ass impulses to touch her hair started he restrained himself, it would be too bizarre to start playing with his best friend's hair out of nowhere. But the self control he had went to Tartarus once he learned that she quite liked it when he played with her hair and that, in fact, she found it soothing.

**"Right," I said, trembling.**

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, I confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Lia.**

“Chiron!” The demigods and most of the gods exclaimed.

The demigods knew way too well the feeling of not being anywhere near normal.

**That's nothing to be—"**

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.”**

Chiron felt extremely quilt, even if Lia now knew what he meant to say with his badly spoken words. 

**"Lia—"**

**But I was already gone.**

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

“Careful as ever.” Annabeth teased to lighten the mood.

Lia showed the blond girl her middle finger carefully, so she wouldn't be scolded by Chriron. She also doubted Athena would appreciate seeing her daughter being given the finger by her enemy's daughter 

**The other girls were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities.**

Piper flinched. Obviously Lia wasn’t talking about her in particular, but she still was a rich juvenile delinquent.

**I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

“From a family of nobodies, hm?” Hephaestus chuckled to himself. It was as if this girl was built to piss off his dad. I mean, she was Poseidon’s kid so maybe he was right. 

The rest of the gods looked at Lia, a few with raised eyebrows, others with amused smiles.

“I had no idea I was a demigod okay?” She defended herself.

**Gemma asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions,**

“You worked on your vacations?” Thalia questioned. 

“Yeah.” Lia shugged, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

The demigods were very confused. You see, Lia never talked much about herself so her life in the mortal world was a mystery to most of them. They did know she had an awesome mom by the things Lia occasionally said about Sally, therefore they assumed she had a great mortal life. 

That image was slowly being ruined though, with the mention of her ‘obnoxious stepfather and his supid poker parties’, the way she was treated by her teachers and Nancy, and now the fact that she worked on her summer vacation.  
Lia had more in common with them than they had imagined.

**and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

**"Oh," one of the other girls said. "That's cool."**

**Gemma gave me a smile and they went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

“Rude.” Katie said not surprised in the slightest.

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had,**

“Good.” Poseidon approved the satyr’s action.

**so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen.**

“Very observing of you.” Artemis praised her.

**Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased.**

**But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

“Way to give him a heart attack.” Ethan snorted.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat.**

The demigod and a few of the gods, Hermes and Apollo, chuckled at that.

**"Wha—what do you mean?"**

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

Travis and Connor shook their heads in disappointment..

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"**

**"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?"**

“Smooth.” Will faked approval. 

**He winced. "Look, Lia ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers ..."**

So many comments were already made about his lying abilities that people refrained their reactions to eye rolls, smiles and chuckles.

**"Grover—"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."**

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

They just nodded.

**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.”**

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes,**

“Whose idea was that?” Lia asked.

Chiron looked at Mr. D.

“You know most of them are dyslexic. Why would you do that?” Athena knew the answer before she asked. To make their lifes just a tad harder.

Dionysus just shrugged, “I think it’s pretty?” 

**but I finally made out something like:**

**Grover Underwood**

**Keeper**

**Half-Blood Hill**

**Long Island, New York**

**(800)009-0009**

**"What's Half—"**

**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."**

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

“That’s why you got grumpy out of nowhere?”

“Yeah...sorry about that.” Lia had a sheepish smile on.

**"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

“Envy is one of the seven deadly sins for a reason, you know.” Annabeth informed.

**He nodded. "Or ... or if you need me."**

**"Oh, yeah? Why would I need you?"**

“Harsh.” Ethan said.

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

They laughed at the coincidence.

Silena wiggled her eyebrows “Cuute.” Aphrodite smiled in agreement.

Lia rolled her eyes, she was used to this type of comment from Silena. Even though, sometimes the comments went a little overboard and Lia could’t help but turn grab red. 

Ethan whispered, “Just ignore her,” with a little amused smile.

If you looked close enough you could see a certain son of Hades chewing the inside of his cheek. 

Poseidon and Triton frowned. Were they missing something?

**Jealousy is a bicth.**

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Lia, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you."**

**I stared at him. He had to be bullshitting me.**

They chuckled at her vocabulary. 

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.**

**"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"**

“Asking the right question.” Hermes approved. 

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

“Coincidence?” Frank asked.

“There’s no such thing as coincidence in a demigods life.” Was Chiron's response.

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine com-partment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

**We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from pass-ing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

The gods frowned. Could it be?

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice .There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

“Oh, no. Please tell me it's not them.” Poseidon had a shimmer of hope that his daughter had not encountered them. 

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket with a pretty shade of blue yarn.**

“No, no, no.” Poseidon was starting to lose his cool.

“Dear gods, Lia, you saw the Fates?” Annabeth was scared. All the demigods that knew the possible implications of meeting the Fates were scared.

“The Fates?” Leo asked.

“Parcaes?” Reyna asked at the same time.

“They control the metaphorical thread of life for every living thing from birth to death.” Athena explained. 

Ethan took a deep breath, “Why did you never say anything?” 

“Why would I? It wouldn’t do any good, only freak people out.”

He was speechless. How could she be so dense? He had the right to know something like that. 

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

Everyone was staring at Lia.

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face.**

**His nose was twitching.**

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man, I’m sorry for what I said ear—"**

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

“Not funny.” Whispered Nico.

**"Not funny, Lia. Not funny at all."**

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears.**

“Get out of there!!” Poseidon exclaimed what everyone was thinking. 

**I heard Grover catch his breath.**

**"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

“Why do you have to be so goddam stubborn?” Ethan had buried his face on his hands.

**"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

Nobody dared to breath. 

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me.**

**The middle one cut the yarn,**

They all gasped.

**and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic.**

Lia Jackson had seen the Fates cut the yarn, while they were staring at her, and she heard it. It was a blue yarn. Blue. It was her favorite color. The Fates had cut a blue yarn while staring at Lia. They were all trying to process it while staring at her in pure horror.

“What does that mean exactly?” Leo broke the silence. 

“They just cut someone's life line. It represents someone’s death,” said Annabeth gimly. Dear gods, Lias was bond to die. 

**Her two friends balled up the bright blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

No one smiled. They didn’t even move, too stunned to react. 

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment.**

**The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered.**

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

It was getting harder and harder to cling to the hope that they hadn’t just witnessed Lia’s life line being cut.

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

**"Grover?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"What are you not telling me?"**

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Lia, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

"I wish." Lia murmured. 

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost older.**

‘Perceptive.’ Poseidon though, he would have smiled if he wasn’t so devastated.

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

**"Yeah and I heard it too. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

**"No, no. This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last tie."**

**"What last time?"**

**"Always eighth grade. They never get past eighth."**

"You're gonna end up freaking her out." Thalia said weakly.

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me.**

Thalia just raised her eyebrows at the confirmation. 

**"What are you talking about?"**

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

**No answer.**

**"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

They were all freaking out in some way. 

But the ones whose thoughts were swirling the most were Leo’s, Piper’s and Jason’s. Until that point Lia was just missing for them, but now that they’d heard this they were thinking that the Fate’s predicament had come true, and the Lia from their time was dead. 

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

Lia stood up, “Okay, stop staring at me like I’m gonna drop dead at any time,” she turned to Ethan, “Earlier you asked me why I never said anything. This is why,” she gestured around the room, “now everyone is looking at me as if I’m a piece of glass read to be shattered.”

He shook his head “Why do you think we’re staring at you like that? We care about you Lia. You are important to us,” he stood up to stare at her properly, “ _very_ important. And you act like that encounter with the Fates means nothing. As if _your_ life means nothing. How could you not tell us, tell _me_ about it?” 

She lost her cool, he didn’t get it. “How do you even tell something like that?! ‘Beautiful morning, isn’t it? Oh, by the way, I was given a death sentence by the Fates themselves!’?” She took a deep breath. “I couldn't bring myself to tell anyone, okay? To put that kind of a burden on someone's shoulder. I just couldn't do it.” Lia sat down, staring at a point in front of her.

Ethan stood for a while longer, digesting, along with the rest of the room, what Lia said. 

Now the campers understood why Lia kept that information to herself. And they actually respected her even more because of it, even if they would have preferred to know something that important.

Ethan returned to his seat, “Let’s just continue the reading.”

“I’ll read.” Reyna offered. She recognized Lia the moment she saw her, Reyna used to think of her as a literal home wrecker. But Lia was showing to be a lot more than that, so she was willing to give her a chance.

**Author's Note:**

> If you find any grammar errors please let me know and comment what you think :)


End file.
